Illustration: Pride

Sapurat Niyazov, according to news reports, made some interesting laws while president of Turkmenistan. Among other things, he banned keeping dogs in the capital city, along with opera, ballet, makeup, lip-syncing, gold teeth and traditional names for the calendar. The last law was particularly interesting as he replaced the traditional names for the months and days, renaming them for himself, his mother and the rest of his family. He named towns, schools, airports and a meteorite after himself. It's nice to have things named after one's self, but far better for others to do the naming.